While the State Chief Information Commissioner disposes 104 cases per month, State Information Commissioner Sashi Prava Bindhani disposes only 65 cases per month. This shows under Bindhan, the SIC has been as slow as it was under the previous SICs like Jagadanand, alleged activist Pradip Pradhan.
He further alleged that competency of Bindhani in matter of disposal of cases is questionable. Bindhani has imposed penalty in two cases only ( less than 1 per cent ) of total of 460 cases disposed.
Citizens are paying Rs 17,000 to each Information Commissioner per day for hearing of the cases.
If the rate of disposal of cases by Bindhani continues ( around 2,400 cases are disposed in a year), the cases which are filed in 2019 will be heard after five years in 2024 and disposed in 2025. Because, 12,000 cases are pending in the Commission, said Pradhan.
He said given the present performance of the SIC, RTI will be redundant in the coming days. It will no way help the citizens. Threat to RTI is threat to democracy and good governance, told Pradhan.